Pledge of Allegiance (Stony)
Steve put on his best face for the media and walked up to the podium. This wasn’t a planned PR event or the Avengers making a statement, this was a complete surprise to him. It didn’t matter much, all they wanted from him was to say the Pledge of Allegiance before their speech on Memorial Day, and he could do that.
It was an honor to be chosen, but he couldn’t help but wonder if some other, more deserving service member had been scheduled. It wasn’t his fault Doom had appeared in the middle of the event and he’d had to leave the WW2 ceremony he was at to come and fight at this one. Luckily, it was a very easy fight and no one was hurt.
“Here is Captain America, leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance.”
Steve leaned over to the microphone and began speaking:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
The speaker announced that everyone may be seated and dismissed Steve. He decided to go back to the service he had originally been at. Even though everyone else was physically much older than himself, he had more in common with them.
He couldn’t help but notice some strange glances on his way out.
After the ceremony, he came home, changed, and showered. Downstairs, Tony and Natasha were playing chess while Clint made dinner. Peter was working on a science project with Bruce’s help.
“How’re you feeling?” Tony looked up at him as he entered the room. “Better” He slunk down in the seat next to his boyfriend and cuddled up to his side. “It doesn’t seem so fresh anymore.” That was true. With Tony, Steve had finally begun to accept the future and all of its quirks. He got over the people in his past live, comforted by the fact that many of them lived long, happy lives. Tony nodded and lovingly rubbed his arm.
Then Steve reached for the TV remote. He usually put the news on as a sort of background noise when they were in the living room.
Tony snatched it away. “The TV’s broken right now. I’m planning on fixing it after this match.”
“Okay?” Steve was a bit confused at Tony’s strong reaction but settled back in. “That’s alright. You don’t need to rush.” He quickly found himself dozing off to the humming of Tony’s arc reactor and the swell of his chest as he breathed.
“Wake up Cap! Meal time!” Steve blinked his eyes open to the sound of Clint yelling from the kitchen. Everyone else was already moving to sit around the communal table so he got up and sat between Tony and Bruce.
Tony quickly shut off his tablet as Steve looked his way. When Steve raised an eyebrow, Tony just shrugged and blurted something about table manners.
They had a nice dinner conversation and played a board game together. When Steve and Tony retired to their bedroom. Steve saw that their TV missing.
“I figured I should check all the TVs after the living room one broke. Oh, and your phone is also in the lab being worked on. I figured you wouldn’t mind, right? I’m going to take a shower.”
Steve was suspicious now, but he knew Tony wouldn’t hurt him. He hoped it wasn’t some giant over-the-top surprise. Tony enjoyed giving extravagant gifts and Steve knew it was his way of showing love, but sometimes they were just too much. He reached in his pocket for a paper from earlier and realized he must have left it in the living room.
Steve crept downstairs to avoid disturbing the others. At the bottom, he noticed a soft glow in the hallway coming from the room. I thought the TV was broken? He silently walked over and put his face just barely around the corner. Natasha and Clint had a news channel up.
“Captain America: An Atheist?”
With his enhanced senses, he could see the news ticker and hear the host discussing whether or not Captain America believed in God. One of the men at the table was arguing that he obviously didn’t because he was openly gay and unrepentant about it. The man next to him cut in with an argument that the Bible never actually condemned homosexuality and that being religious and being gay were not mutually exclusive. The woman across from him interjected.
“Why didn’t he say the words ‘under God’ than?”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to mix religion and politics.”
“Well, maybe he isn’t religious at all. Does he even go to church?”
Finally, Steve made his presence known as he stepped behind the couch. His mouth was open. He was speechless.
“Oh, Steve...” Clint said dumbly at he stared up at the blonde.
“The TV isn’t broken anymore.” Natasha added. “Don’t take it seriously. The media are vultures. Your life is private. You can make whatever decisions you want.”
“Yeah. But why would they even? I’m Catholic.”
“You are?” Natasha smacked Clint’s arm. “How are you even a spy? Haven’t you seen his Bible?”
“I am. I don’t go to church much anymore. It wasn’t the same as I remembered it. When I was younger, me and ma went every Sunday. The people were so nice. They always gave me extra clothes and sometimes invited us over for a quick meal.” Steve grew nostalgic. “But these new churches weren’t as much of a community. Well, maybe they were, but they all saw me as Captain America and eventually started doing ridiculous things to get me to stay at their church because they thought it would pull others to do the same.”
Natasha nodded thoughtfully. She remembered when he came home, distraught over his search for the right church. She, albeit not a religious person, pointed out that personal worship was a thing that he should look into. He found that he much preferred a personal connection with God rather than being weirdly stared at throughout mass.
“So why do they think I don’t believe in God?”
“You didn’t say ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance during the memorial ceremony. They’re blowing this up way too much.” Clint supplied. “It’s just been this whole thing recently. Like should kids have to say ‘under God’ when they recite the Pledge even if they’re in a public school? Does that God refer specifically to the Christian God or can it be taken as any higher power you want to worship to? Etcetera. Etcetera.”
“There isn’t an ‘under God’ in it.” Steve’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “I’ve said it at least half a million times from my younger days. It was definitely correct.”
Natasha pulled out a smart phone and looked up the American Pledge of Allegiance, she hadn’t grown up with it, but she had learned it to blend with crowds when necessary and she was sure it referenced God. “See it...oh”
“What?”
“Apparently, that part wasn’t added until 1954. So Steve wouldn’t have ever said the new version.”
Clint nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Why’d they add it?” Steve was now confused about something else. He’d thought the government got less and less tangled with religion as time passed.
“Anti-communist rhetoric. You learned about the Red Scare and the Cold War, right?”
Steve scrunched up his face. “Yep.” He thought the whole thing was stupid.
“Yeah, the communists were supposably ‘godless’ so they made sure to become extra religious here to prove they weren’t communist.”
“And they kept it in?”
“Mmhm. Are you okay?”
Steve gave a slight nod. He was a little frustrated though. He wasn’t trying to make a stand or bash anyone’s belief in God. Why would he choose a memorial ceremony for his fallen brethren to do that anyway? That’s disrespectful and unlike him. When he wants to make a stand, he always does it during post-fight interviews or press conferences.
He made his way back to his room in a trance.
“Hey, honey-“ Tony spun around with a towel on his hips “-Oh. You found out didn’t you?”
“Why did you try to hide it?”
Tony looked a little guilty. “It’s already a tough day for you. I didn’t want to stress you out further.”
“I’m not mad at you.” Steve gave Tony a reassuring peck on the lips. “I’m mad at those damn reporters. Can I get an interview to clear all this up? Natasha helped me figure out what happened.”
“Of course. I’ll have Pepper schedule you one.”
“You’re the best.”
Steve stepped down onto the sidewalk from the car. Shockingly, there were people screaming at him. It wasn’t as bad as when he’d come out with Tony, but there were still a decent amount of trespassers.
“Captain America can’t be a damn heathen.”
“You don’t embody any true American ideals. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“You’ve ruined everything.”
“You’re a terrible role model.”
The shouting went on and on. He tried to ignore it, but it was starting to get to him. He wasn’t supposed to be a superhero. He was just lucky enough to get the serum. He was just Steve Rogers. Maybe Steve Rogers wasn’t good enough.
Thankfully, Tony knew what to do. As soon as he saw his boyfriend’s insecure face, he showered him in loving and uplifting words. He surrounded him with compliments that had nothing to do with Captain America or the serum.
Eventually, Steve was ready to interview. Everything went smoothly. After the reporter realized this was a mundane mistake, he wasn’t thirsting for juicy questions and wrapped it up quickly.
“Thank you.” Steve whispered to Tony after exiting the lime light.” He was so grateful for all the times he’d been pulled out of jams like these by the most amazing man he’d ever known.
“You’re welcome.”